Raonic, Bouchard receive first-round byes at Rogers Cup

Eugenie Bouchard of Canada holds the runner up trophy after being defeated by Petra Kvitova of Czech Republic at their women's singles final tennis match at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London July 5, 2014. (REUTERS)

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IAN SHANTZ, QMI AGENCY

Jul 28, 2014

, Last Updated: 3:54 PM ET

TORONTO - It's bye, bye for Canada's best hopes at the Rogers Cup, but that's a good thing.

Following the release of the official ATP World Tour and WTA rankings on Monday, Milos Raonic and Eugenie Bouchard were seeded inside the top eight at their hometown tournaments, which begin next week in Toronto and Montreal, respectively.

As such, they'll receive automatic first-round byes, with Raonic — a finalist at the event last year — seeded seventh and Bouchard sixth, Tennis Canada announced.

World No. 1s Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams, both three-time champions at the Rogers Cup, will be the top seeds, with Williams looking to defend the title she won in Toronto last year.

The No. 2 seeds will be world No. 2 and last year's winner in Montreal, Rafael Nadal, and world No. 2 Li Na, who will compete on the opposite sides of the draw from Djokovic and Williams. The Nos. 3 and 4 seeds will also be placed on different halves, with the remaining seeds to be dropped into the draw at random.

The top-ranked Canadians will certainly go in with a head of steam.

Earlier this month, Raonic reached a Grand Slam semifinal for the first time in his career before ultimately bowing out to Roger Federer at Wimbledon in straight sets.

Along with her male contemporary, Bouchard became the first Canadian to advance to the semifinals of a Grand Slam, and she took it a step further at the All-England Club, reaching the final before losing to Petra Kvitova. Bouchard, who also reached the semifinals at the Australian Open and French Open, should come in well-rested, having withdrawn from this week's Citi Open in Washington, D.C., for undisclosed reasons.

Other top seeds in Toronto include Federer, a 17-time Grand Slam winner, at No. 3 and two-time Rogers Cup winner Andy Murray at No. 9.

Meanwhile, world No. 8 Juan Martin Del Potro has withdrawn from the Toronto event as he continues to recover from wrist surgery. It moves Grigor Dimitrov into the eighth spot, giving him the final first-round bye.

The Rogers Cup is held simultaneously, with the men competing at the Rexall Centre in Toronto and the women at Uniprix Stadium in Montreal. Qualifying takes place this weekend and first-round action begins on Monday.